8. Chapter Five

My eyelids flutter open to stare into four round concerned faces. Huh. Maybe they left their murdering knives at home. I realise I'm lying on the grey gravel floor, and try and prop myself up on my arms but fall down to the earth once more in my efforts.

"Oh," I mutter in response as two grab my arms and haul me to my unsteady feet. The dark skinned boy points to himself, an eager smile on his obviously sweating face.

"I'm RJ. This is Herbie, that's Tegan and this here," he looked the girl up and down in appreciation, "Is Mimi." I nod, but inside my head my mind is racing. These people have strange names, weird names, names unheard of amongst the factionless or Erudite or anyone in between. And not to mention the look RJ gave Mimi would be outrageous even in flirty Amity.

I sneeze and they stare at me, seemingly enraptured by a simple everyday sound. "Um," I mumble cleverly. "Um... Who are you?" Herbie gives a short surprised snort, while Mimi rolls her eyes in annoyance.

RJ starts to speak again, this time with a hint of cold short temper dancing through his tone. "I'm RJ," he begins slowly, as if talking to a dim witted toddler. "This is Tegan."

I cut him off, shaking my head. "Not what your names are. How do you know who I am? What faction are you in?"

Mimi answers in a cool, unattached tone. "We're not from a faction." She speaks the word with obvious disgust, as if the factionless are desirable compared to order and structure. She turns to her companions. "Guys, I can't believe she doesn't even know. I thought it was like, staged or something. She's actually legit." She gives a sniff of contempt.

"Know what?"

I can feel my voice getting louder, my features becoming more desperate, more frantic.

But I can't stop.

"Know what?"

I'm almost shouting, but my head is twisting and turning in every direction, tossing my thoughts up into the air and refusing to catch them, letting them scatter in a harum-scarum mess. It's like I'm an alien creature, a lesser being. Every one knows something apart from me. And I wouldn't even care normally, but the thing is, is that this big secret they all know... it's about me.

"Know what?"

Herbie puts an unwelcome hand on my shoulder, supposedly in comfort. "It's nothing really Reese. Nothing important anyway." He smiles lazily, raking a tanned hand through his spiky hair and then that's supposed to be it. I'm meant to forget about what they know and I don't, and their strange clothes and the flashing lights plastered over buildings.

But I don't.

"What?" I implore, begging now, my hands clasped tightly together.

No one answers.

"What?"

Mimi rolls her eyes, an action she's obviously taken hours spent in front of a mirror to get exactly right, right to the scathing glare finishing it. "God guys," she moans. "Just tell her already. I mean, she's going to find out sooner or later anyway."

Tegan, RJ and Herbie are silent, their faces locked downwards, eyes glued to the floor. Mimi waits for a couple of quiet seconds before sighing loudly, rubbing her inconvenience in my now scarlet face.